IMF says global economy could get worse

The IMF said greater integration of taxation and spending policies across the eurozone was needed [AFP]
The International Monetary Fund has cut its global economic growth forecast and warned things could get much worse if the eurozone crisis continues.
The IMF's quarterly report released on Monday says world financial conditions are likely to remain "very fragile"

because of continued problems in the eurozone.

Growth forecast for 2012 has been put down to 3.3 per cent, from its July estimate of 3.5 per cent, with Asia still
leading the pack of expanding regions while European economies contract an expected 0.4 per cent.
The Fund said the global economic growth will only hit 3.6 per cent next year, lower than
the 3.9 per cent predicted in July, as even powerful emerging economies like China, India
and Brazil slow down.

Quantum computing researchers win Nobel

US and French scientists developed methods that allowed them to control fragile quantum states, winning
physics prize.




Haroche, left, and Wineland have been recognised for their work on the interaction of light and matter [AFP]
Serge Haroche of France and David Wineland of the US will share the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics, and the $1.2m
prize pot that goes with it, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced.
The two have been given the award for their work on the interaction of light and matter.
The duo, who worked separately, have paved the way for experiments in the field of quantum physics, after showing
how individual quantum particles may be observed without being destroyed - work which aims to resolve the
uncertainty principle established by Werner Heisenberg, the 1932 Nobel Physics prize winner.

Merkel pledges support for Greece on Athens visit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens on Tuesday that the “tough path” of punishing spending cuts will pay off, while thousands took to the streets to protest her visit.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Greece on Tuesday that the "tough path" of painful spending cuts will pay off, as tens of thousands of protesters massed in the capital in a show of anger against her visit to the eurozone's most indebted nation.

Russian police arrest anti-Putin protesters

At least six demonstrators arrested near the office of President Putin as he celebrated his 60th birthday.     Putin has been widely criticised for clamping down on dissent during his 12 years at Russia's helm [AFP]

Police in the Russian capital have arrested at least six protesters as they took part in demonstrations that coincided with President Vladimir Putin's 60 birthday. Sunday's protests were held as a demonstration calling for answers in the death of journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya got under way. Politkovskaya was murdered six years ago. Police hauled away several protesters outside the offices of Putin in Moscow, including a woman who was bundled away by after she criticised Putin before the media.

Merkel arrives in Greece amid tight security

Protests expected against German chancellor, seen by many Greeks as key architect behind country's austerity measures.

Angel Merkel, the German chancellor, has arrived in Greece in a bid to show support to the nation's embattled government as the public plan new demonstrations against austerity cuts.

Tuesday's visit to Athens is Merkel's first since the eurozone crisis erupted nearly three years ago.

The chancellor is considered by many Greeks to be the key architect behind the country's austerity measures.

Eurozone unlocks €500 billion war chest

The eurozone unlocked its long-awaited 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism on Monday amid fresh concerns over the economies of Greece and Spain. The fund will be operational by the end of the month, chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said.

The eurozone unlocked on Monday its 500-billion-euro crisis war chest, the European Stability Mechanism, amid worries over Greece and as Spain agonised over whether to call for a full bailout.
The launch of the 500-billion-euro ($650 billion) ESM -- immediately given an 'AAA' rating by credit giant Fitch -- "marks an historic milestone in shaping the future of monetary union," Luxembourg Prime Minister and fund chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said.
Juncker spoke after the inaugural meeting of the ESM's board, made up of the finance ministers from the 17 countries that share the currency. The ministers then went into talks on Greece and Spain.

The euro crisis: The lingering limbo

THE EFSF is dead. Long live the ESM. Well, sort of. The euro zone’s temporary rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, is not quite dead. And the European Stability Mechanism, which formally superseded it today, has not fully come into life.

  Just a few weeks ago the euro zone was hugely relieved when the German constitutional court turned down pleas to block the ESM. Yet there was little fanfare about today’s launch of the ESM. Some of the finance ministers gathered in Luxembourg today spoke of historic milestones. But as he arrived, Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner in charge of the euro, could summon no more enthusiasm than to say: “I am less pessimistic for the moment for the euro zone than in the spring.” And far from rejoicing, European markets fell because of fears about weak growth in Asia.